By a Rose
by Doomsday Raven
Summary: Everything that happened between them was all by a rose. Ib and Garry continue exploring the terrifying world within the paintings, and when something goes wrong, the ticking of a clock turns time back for things to be different. One-shot, IbxGarry.


"Ib…if you need help, I'll come running," Garry promised. "So, go on ahead." Brown-haired, red-eyed Ib looked down at the trail of blue petals.

"I'll be right back! Stay here, okay? I'll definitely get your rose back!" Ib called as she sprinted down the hall and towards the staircase; following the fallen blue petals.

"He loves me…" Ib recognized Mary's voice. "He loves me not."

She grabbed the railing of the stairs and hurried upstairs. "He loves me…" Ib could've sworn that she heard the ripping of petals. "He loves me not." She rushed up the last step to see Mary tear off the last petal on the rose. "He loves me. He loves me!"

"No!" Ib screeched as Mary let the empty stem drop to the floor.

She spun in a happy circle. "Yay! He loves me! He loves me!" Mary giggled; running off. Ib stared after her in disbelief, and looked back at the rose. "No, no! Garry…!" The brown-haired girl whirled around and dashed past the fallen blue petals that made a trail down the stairs. She raced downstairs; tripping and tumbling down. Ib lied there for a few moments, before pulling herself off the ground. "Uh…ow," She disregarded the stinging pain and rounded the corner. "Garry!"

Garry was slumped against the wall with his eyes closed. Ib approached him slowly. This was a similar scene to when she first met him. "G-Garry?" She whispered. She nudged him, and he didn't respond. "Garry, open your eyes…please?" She gently touched his face. "Garry? Garry?" She began to cry and hugged him tightly. "No! Why? Why did you give her your rose? You should've kept it! Why didn't you just let her have mine?" She pulled away and took his hand into hers. "Didn't we make a promise that we'd get out of here _together_? I don't…I don't want to leave here by myself! Don't leave me alone, please! Garry!" She cried. "Wake up! Wake up please!" Tears trailed down her face from her red eyes. A clinking sound caught her attention; as a silver lighter fell from the pocket of his jacket. She took the lighter into her hands. "Garry's…lighter…"

* * *

Ib burned away the vines that blocked off a room. She entered it and saw a painting hanging on the far wall. Colouring books, dolls, books and crayons littered the floor. She slowly walked towards the painting; the lighter clutched tightly in her hand.

"Ib?" Ib whirled around to see someone entering the room slowly. "Ib…leave this place. How did you get here? _Why_ are you here?! Why, why, why? Get out of here! Get out now! Leave right NOW!" The blonde-haired girl screamed at her. Mary; nothing more than a painting brought to life glared at her with her blue eyes; which were once filled with innocence and joy. Her face was twisted and contorted with rage. Her hand clenched around the handle of the palette knife she had taken earlier. "_Leeeave!_" Mary screeched as she ran towards her; baring the knife.

Ib's red gaze landed on the silver lighter in her hands. Opening it, she flicked it; a red flame appearing. _This is this girl who stole my rose…the girl who tried to hurt me…the girl who…who ripped apart Garry's rose…!_ She held the blazing flame to the painting that hung on the wall behind her. The painting of Mary; the painting that she had escaped from. The glass from the frame shattered; showering her in tiny shards. She watches as the canvas and the frame went up in flames and vanished. Ib heard the clattering of the palette knife landing to the ground as she whirled around. Mary stood there; her eyes wide. "I won't forgive you for what you did to Garry." Ib said softly. "No…no…NO…!" Mary shrieked. She turned into ashes and vanished; just like her painting. Panting, Ib shuffled past the palette knife and towards the door.

Ib walked along the scribbled pathway towards the pink house. The key was held tightly in her hand. She unlocked the door, and descended down the long case of stairs to find herself at the lobby of the gallery. She walked around cautiously, and saw the large painting she was looking at before she appeared in this world. It looked exactly like the lobby of the real gallery. She extended a hand and touched the painting. A flash of light illuminated the hall from the frame, and Ib saw the real world in the frame. "If I go through here, then…I'll be home?" Ib murmured as she leaped into the painting.

* * *

She opened her eyes. She was staring at the painting of a strange world. "What was I doing just now?" She asked out loud. "Oh, Mom and Dad are probably waiting!" She ran away from the painting towards the lobby. There was a painting that caught her eye. Ib slowed down and walked up to it. It depicted a young purple-haired man surrounded with blue roses. His eyes were closed, and a yellow candy was perched on top of the blue roses on his chest. "What a nice painting. Eh?" She felt something in her pocket, and reached in. She took out a yellow candy. "When did I have this candy in…my…" She stared at the candy in her hand, and back up at the painting. "…pocket…" She held the candy up to the place of the one in the painting. They were identical. "Wait…" Her red eyes widened. The gentle, soothing voice of Garry filled her mind as she saw a vision of him handing her the candy. _"Here, you can have this candy, Ib." _Garry had said.

"No…no! Garry!" Ib cried out. "Garry! Garry! I remember now! Garry!" She fell to her knees; crying. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry Garry! Garry, no! Let me go back! Let me trade places with him! I can save him, I know I can! Please, let me go back and save him!" She heard a loud ticking sound, and a fog drifted into her head. _Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick._

* * *

"Uh…" Ib slowly pulled herself off the floor. She looked around; it was dark with colourful scribbles all along the floor, ceiling and walls. _I'm in the toy box…_ She spotted Garry lying on the floor. "Garry!" She dashed over to him and dropped beside him. "Garry? Garry, are you okay?"

Garry's eyes flickered open. "Ow…" He sat up. "Ib? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, but are you okay?"

"My head hurts a bit, but I'm fine, really. Oh, hey Ib, don't lose this! Hold on to it, alright?" He picked up her red rose and closed her hands over it. "We don't want anything bad happening to you, right?"

Ib looked at him, and smiled. "Yeah. Garry, let's get out of this world together."

"We definitely will. Remember? We'd eat macaroons together once we get out." He said, smiling in return. A sudden rumble shook the ground, and all of the dolls, headless statues and mannequin heads came to life; wandering around the darkened toy box.

"Run, run, ruuuun!" Garry grabbed her hand and they ran towards the exit; dodging the monsters that came towards them. They ran down a hallway and up a flight of stairs. Panting, Garry leaned against the wall. "I am sick of those things! Ib, are you okay?"

Ib nodded. "I-I'm fine."

"Now where do we go?" Garry's gaze swept around the room, and landed on a doorway blocked by vines with thorns. "Let's try burning them," He took out his lighter and set the vines on fire; where they crumbled away and vanished. "It worked! Let's go in."

Ib and Garry entered the room. "Ib, it's Mary's painting!" They walked up to it and examined it.

"Oh IIIIb…Gaaaaaarry…"

They whipped around to see Mary standing at the doorway; wielding the palette knife. "Mary…" Ib whispered.

"Leave. Leave, now! Get out, this is my place! Leave right now! Now, now, NOW!" Mary shrieked; running towards them; pointing the blade accusingly at the two.

"Ib, careful!" Garry pushed her out of the way and dodged out of the way. Mary swung the palette knife at him; doing stabbing and swinging motions as she tried to land a hit. Garry grabbed her arm and tried to disarm the blonde-haired girl. "There's no choice! Ib, catch! Burn it!" Garry tossed the lighter to her, and she caught it; lighting the flame and swiping the fire over the painting. He shoved Mary away and shielded Ib from the shattering glass that rained down from the burning painting.

"No! Noooo!" Mary screeched. "Noooo!" She burst into flames and crumbled away; vanishing before the palette knife hit the floor. Garry looked down at Ib.

"Are you okay? No injuries?"

She shook her head; when she noticed a cut on his hand. "Garry, you're bleeding!"

"Huh?" He looked at his hand. "Oh, I didn't notice. I guess I was cut from the glass."

"Here," She wrapped a white lace handkerchief around his hand; tying it securely. "There, we can't let it get infected."

He smiled and offered his uninjured hand to her. "Thanks Ib. Come on, let's get out of here." Ib took his hand, and they exited the room. They dashed towards the pink house and down the staircase. Garry and Ib passed the desk in the lobby and went towards the large painting that Ib had been looking at before this all happened. Panting, Garry looked at the title of the painting. "_Fabricated World_…Ib, look! It's the lobby of the gallery! If we go through this, we'll be back in our world, I know it!" Garry stepped into the painting. "It works! Ib, come on, grab my hand!"

Ib stepped towards the painting, when a familiar voice stopped her. "Ib, there you are!" She looked over to see her mother strolling towards her. "You had me worried; running off by yourself! Come on Ib, your father is waiting for us!"

"Ib, come on! Jump in!" Garry said; extending his hand to her.

"Where do you think you're going, young lady? Didn't we tell you not to go with strangers? Let's go!" Her mother said.

"Come on! It's not scary, trust me! Ib, I'll pull you in, okay? Let's go back!"

"Your father is waiting! Don't go with a stranger!"

"Ib!" Garry and her mother said in unison.

"Do you never want to see us again? Ib, come with me this instant!" Her mother said sharply.

"Let's go, Ib! We'll eat macaroons together, like I promised! We're leaving, _together_!"

Ib reached out. "Garry!" She cried; grabbing his hand.

"Alright, let's go!" Garry pulled her through the painting. She hugged him tightly as they went back to the real world.

* * *

Ib opened her eyes. She was standing in front of a large painting. "What was I doing just now?" She wondered, walking away from the painting. "I don't know if Mom and Dad are done yet…maybe I'll walk around just once more."

She passed by various paintings and sculptures. She walked towards a sculpture of a red rose; where a young purple-haired man stood in front of it. She slowly walked up to him. He heard her, and turned around. "Oh, is something wrong, little miss?"

She shook her head. "No, nothing is wrong."

He smiled at her. "I'll get out of the way then, so you can get a better look at the sculpture," He brushed past her and began to walk away. "Bye Ib." He stopped. "Ib…How do I know that name?" He slipped his hands into his jacket pockets. "Huh? When did I have this handkerchief?" He pulled out a white, lacy handkerchief with 'Ib' stitched in tiny, black letters. "It was…it was…wait…it was that girl's…it was hers, it was…it was Ib's!" He whirled around and rushed back to her; hugging her. "I remember! I remember everything, Ib! I remember the monsters, I remember Mary, I remember our time together there! Ib, do you remember? Please, please remember!" He crouched in front of her; touching her face gently with his hands. "Please, try to remember, Ib!"

"G-Garry?" She hugged him. "Garry! I remember! I'm so glad that you're safe, Garry!"

"We made it out. We did it, we made it out together! I have a lot that I want to talk to you about, but I have to go. But before I return this handkerchief, I need to have it washed, and—"

"Yeah. Because…Garry, we'll definitely see each other again! It's a promise, okay?" Ib smiled.

"Ib, the next time we see each other, I'll take you to my favourite place that sells macaroons!" Garry turned and began to walk away again. A sudden tug on his jacket stopped him. He looked back to see Ib fighting back tears. "Ib? What's wrong?"

"S-Sorry," She released her hold on his jacket. "I-I…I just…"

Garry knelt down in front of her and caressed her head. "Tell me what's wrong." He said softly.

"When I think of…you leaving, I think that I might never see you again," She murmured. "And whenever I don't see you, I think that maybe you're gone and maybe that you were thrown back into that world. I'm scared that I'm going to wake up back in that place." She couldn't hold back her tears. "I'm scared that I'm going to lose you again, Garry!"

Garry pulled her into his arms. "Ib, it's okay. Don't worry, I'm not going to disappear from you, okay? We've gotten out of the other world, we won against Mary. We're safe. We're not going back, and we'll definitely stay together."

"But the next time we meet might be a really long time away," Ib said; resting her head on his shoulder. "And a lot can happen in that time."

"Here," Garry pulled away and dug around in his pocket. "Open your hand." She opened her hand and watched as he placed a pretty brooch in the palm of her hand. It was a beautiful purple rose brooch made of glittering amethyst crystals and cold silver. "I was getting the clasp of this brooch fixed before I came to the gallery. It's a treasure of mine. I'd like you to keep it for now, Ib. Now I have something of yours, and you have something of mine. We'll _definitely_ see each other, and does this reassure you?"

Ib looked at the gleaming brooch. "And how about this; every time we meet, we bring a new treasure to swap. That way, you'll be reassured that we'll continue to meet," He smiled. "Keep it safe."

"I will. I promise," She smiled; shedding tears of happiness. "Hey, Garry?"

"Yes?"

"The red rose that I had…and the blue rose that you had…together, they'd make a beautiful purple rose," She said with a laugh. She closed her fingers over the brooch. "Garry, I'm really happy that I met you!"

"I'm really happy that I met you too," He hugged her again. "I have to go now. We'll meet again, Ib!"

"Bye Garry!" She watched as Garry walked away; looking back and waving to her with a smile. Soon, he turned a corner and disappeared from her sight. "Ah, how will he contact me?" She opened her hand to look at the brooch. She noticed the flutter of something clamped in the clasp of the piece. She turned over the brooch to see a piece of paper. She tugged out the scrap of paper and looked at it. Written in black ink were Garry's name and his phone number. She couldn't help but smile when she saw a small phrase scribbled at the bottom.

"We met by a rose, bonded by a rose and we're connected by a rose," Ib smiled. "I love you, Garry. When I'm brave enough, I'll tell you that in person." She felt butterflies flitter around in her stomach at the sentence at the bottom of the paper. _I love you Ib_.

* * *

_**A/N: **__I am in love with Ib x Garry, and I love the game Ib. My first fanfic for it, and it was based on a voice drama I saw on YouTube. It was very well done by the voice actors, it brought me to tears~ Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, I don't own Ib._


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